oiling board with wanlut oil, do i need to worry about patron allergies?

Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

if you check vaccine components which are listed on the CDC's website for each vaccine, they have MERCURY and many many other poisonous components included. they even have monkey brains as part of some vaccines, that just sets off alarms in my head. i'm no scientist or immunologist but i don't think it'd be good for you.

Mineral oil is also used as a laxative. I don't put laxative products on my wood boards. Sure they label it as "food grade", but if it was really food grade people would cook with it? How many people hear drizzle a little mineral oil on their salad?

Coconut oil or palm oil are my go to oils when handy. I have a coconut oil beeswax blend that I'm working with right now. I look for anything that turns solid at room temperature. I've heard that the Italians oil their wood products with olive oil all the time but that could be one of those stereotypes. I believe it because it's one of those stereotypes that isn't really funny. Therefore it's not funny because it's true. Animal fats are good but I'm starting to get into rendering my own which makes it expensive.

Do you think if I used bacon grease instead it would at bacon flavor to anything I cut on the cutting board? Oh the possibilities.

The short answer is "yes". If you're a professional, you always have to be concerned about customers' allergies and be responsive to their dietary restrictions. If you were allergic to nuts would you want to eat food which had been prepped on a board coated in walnut oil? Would you want to run that risk, however slight, knowing full well that it might kill you?

The prudent and wise choice would be to oil your boards with another oil which will not create this hazard and avoid the possibility all together.

Funny discussion. Went from what oil do I use to food allergies to "Look what they put in ______", back to allergies then finally back to the original topic.

So here is my opinion, backed by the USDA and my own personal experience.

Mineral oil, like it or hate it, is a super refined petroleum product. Used as a laxative in large amounts, it is totally inert and non-toxic. Okay, so you hate it, it is used in tons of cosmetics the ladies use, bakers use it as a mold release in large commercial bakeries, hand creams use it as a base, baby oil uses it as a base and it is in countless other places you may not expect. Don't like it, check the labels to see if it is an ingredient then quite using that product.

Peanut, olive, coconut, grapeseed and all other natural organic oils - all contain FAT which is what goes rancid. Go ahead and use peanut oil on your commercial board and when a diner has a reaction to the slightest tint of peanut oil, you can test out your liability insurance. (BTW just to be safe I have 2 million in liability insurance just to be safe.) And, notice the experts who push a particular type of oil as being the "Best" all have some connection with the maker or are the maker. Self-serving advertising!

Linseed oil is used as a base for PAINT. It will not dry unless it has chemical driers mixed in. Those driers are TOXIC! Same with tung oil. In the raw state it will almost never dry, until those chemical driers are added.

Don't like any of the above? Use nothing! Keep your board free from oils and use salt as a cleaner. Coat overnight then brush off in the morning. VIOLA! Clean, sanitized and dry. Sadly, I'll bet someone will find something against salt.

What it all boils down to is that we try to make something more complicated than it needs to be. Discuss it at length, tear all the details apart, micro-manage the smallest of details, it all boils down to how complicated can we make a simple subject.